July / August 2013

Summer’s just begun. Even if you thought your summer was packed and planned, July and August will be much more fun with at least one more getaway. Here are 10 fantastic trips — all easily organized on a moment’s notice.

I sat down and gazed into the eyes of my new dog, Spencer. I could not imagine that this guy was rescued only days before he was to be put down. God only knows what he went through. Late at

The aromatic scents of oils and shea butter fill your senses as soon as you walk in the door. If you time it right, Jim Spann will mix and pour the all-natural serums right in front of you. Standing on

Maps are trending in accessories and home decor these days, and rightly so. While GPS devices and smart phones offer us quick mapping functions on the go, a good paper map has history. Enter the map pendant. Whether it’s to

Sue Stuckemeyer walks easily through the hallways of her Arts-and-Crafts style home on Plaza Drive. Smiling brightly, she points to the copper collection of pitchers and tea pots in the kitchen, then to the tall wainscoting and Corian solid surface

Steve Oeth was making excuses. He was 20 to 30 pounds overweight, he told himself. He wasn’t used to exerting himself, he’d say. Other days, he’d insist that he was just plain tired. Then Steve heard a question that he

Cognitive disabilities weren’t just a concept for President John F. Kennedy. His eldest sister, Rosemary, was mentally disabled, and she later underwent a prefrontal lobotomy. It was a time when mental health and developmental disabilities weren’t widely understood. Kennedy created

One of my all-time favorite dishes in the summer is a bright caprese salad. Made with seasonal ingredients at the peak of their freshness, caprese offers comfort, presentation, and a zip of homegrown flair. Using heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, a

Charley Beck isn’t the type of guy to miss breakfast, especially around here. In fact, for the past several months, he’s been to 17 restaurants that serve breakfast in what he likes to call the “Evans-burgh” area. And he’s not

Memphis-style, dry-rubbed, and slow-smoked barbecue has made its way to Newburgh, Ind. Originally founded by Brian and Katie Shonk in Paris, Ill., in July 2009, Memphis & Main BBQ became an established small roadside barbecue stand. With the mission to

There is no suggested time for happy hour during the sizzling summer months. When Evansville temperatures near the unbearable, nothing cools you faster than the refreshing tastes of a chilled, fruity cocktail. To make your selection a bit easier, we’ve

All you have to do is pick apart a steaming hot plate of pig knuckles to know that Jim and Jerry Chandler know German food. After all, the brothers have owned the Gerst Bavarian Haus on Franklin Street since 1998.

It’s still a busy corner  — at least during the workweek. Yet the intersection of Third and Main streets in Downtown Evansville is very different than it was just a century ago. While the eastern half of this block of

It seems that adage about location applies to advertising as much as it does to real estate, at least in the case of Daniel Burton Dean’s recent project. DBD, as the firm is commonly known, will be featured in the

What are your summer travel plans? There still is plenty of time to form your answer to the question being asked at patio parties all around town. Perhaps you’ll say you’re going to the live music capital of the world:

El Charro (943 N. Park Drive) extends to the North Side, taking the space in North Park abandoned by Kipplee’s pizzeria. Like its West Side counterpart, El Charro will serve Mexican cuisine. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thur., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

When the Women’s Hospital 2013 Classic takes place Monday, July 15, through Sunday, July 21, a local tennis player will likely get a lot of attention. Macie Elliott graduated from Reitz Memorial High School and will attend Southern Methodist University

Maestro Alfred Savia is the internal heartbeat of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. For almost 25 seasons, the music director has expanded the activities of the Evansville Philharmonic, which now includes a comprehensive Youth Orchestra program, the Philharmonic Chorus, and the

On a fact-finding mission to California last year, Derrick Woolbright sampled items from more than 30 food trucks in the span of a week in the areas of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Today, he puts that research to good

In a neighborhood filled with “one bungalow after another,” the house at 1506 E. Indiana St. stands out. The Peters-Margedant House, designed by William Wesley Peters in the neighborhood behind The Pub, is “so different — a postage stamp, a

In his fifth murder mystery play, author and Evansville Living contributor Kelley Coures has chosen another fact-based crime in Evansville’s history as the plot for the popular annual fundraising event for the Reitz Home Museum. “Thoroughly Murdered Millie” tells the

Candice Perry remembers the woman, a successful entrepreneur, well. She was in Perry’s office at the Albion Fellows Bacon Center. The woman was nursing a baby in her lap, taking business calls, and instructing staff. At the same time, she

The Girl Scouts may be known for their delicious cookies. But during these hot months, they’re becoming known for their rain gardens. Rain gardens conserve and reuse rain to water plants. They feature planted depressions to allow rainwater runoff or

While vacationing in Charleston, S.C., my wife and I fell in love with the beautiful gardens throughout the city. We spent hours walking the streets and peeking though gates to get a glimpse of the hidden gardens tucked away within

Eva Mozes Kor is scared. It is August 1993, and in front of her is Dr. Hans Münch, a former Nazi physician who worked in Auschwitz, Poland, during World War II. That’s where Eva spent roughly a year of her

Frances Enzler has three kids, a husband, and, when she’s not working as an academic advisor and instructor at the University of Evansville, a career as the aquatics director/swim coach at the Evansville Country Club and the swim coach at

Thirty years in education, culminating with a stretch as a middle school principal, would leave most people with just enough stamina to lounge poolside or maybe play a weekly round of bridge. Not Ron Waite. The Owensboro, Ky., native, who

If you’re looking for an education in Warrick County history, there’s no better place to start than the old Ella Williams School. Located at 217 S. First St. in Boonville, Ind., part of this 1901 red brick structure became a

Words used to just roll off of Sandy Lee Watkins’ tongue. The man who often referred to himself as “husky petite” also was known for touting that “there’s no place like 42420,” the Zip code for Henderson, Ky. When the

Ordinary things have extraordinary potential in the artist’s eye of Posey County native Amy Moore. Moore’s passion is a mixed-media form commonly called found object art, or “assemblage, (which is) the fancy word for it,” she explains. Much of her

Musical memory begins with Johnny Cash, of course, when recalling my songs of summer — “Jackson,” “I Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire,” “A Boy Named Sue” — “The Man in Black” providing the background music during my elders’ euchre